News

Ugly Mugly

PETALUMA, California (AP) — Maybe the name helped. A rescue dog from the United Kingdom named Mugly has won the annual World's Ugliest Dog contest.

The eight-year-old Chinese-crested won $1,000 and a year's worth of dog cookies by beating out 28 other ugly dogs from around the world.

"I couldn't speak when they announced Mugly's name," said Bev Nicholson, the dog's owner. "I didn't know which way to look. I was shaking as much as the dog."

Nicholson said Mugly was also named Britain's ugliest dog in 2005.

Organisers at the California event say the dogs are judged on their "natural ugliness in both pedigree and mutt classes".

Last year's winner, Yoda, was a Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix.

My name is Cora

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A giant Pacific octopus that's the star attraction at an Ohio zoo's new reef exhibit has chosen her name by pulling shrimp from a labelled ball.

A list of 2,200 suggestions submitted to the Akron Zoo in a public naming contest was narrowed to three options Monday for the 20-pound, four-foot-long octopus, and she chose Cora. It's a shortened version of coral, which is a popular octopus habitat and the theme of the exhibit.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports the octopus made her decision by selecting the ball labelled Cora, pulling out shrimp, and then holding up the winning name with a tentacle as photographers captured the moment.

The most-submitted name suggestion had been Octavia. The other option, Scarlet, referred to the creature's reddish skin.

Food for thought

MIAMI, Florida (AP) — Python, wild boar and lionfish are on the menu this weekend in Miami as local chefs compete in a cook-off using the invasive species as key ingredients.

The goal is to raise awareness about how the animals impact South Florida's ecology — and perhaps generate an appetite for them.

Chef Todd Erickson will be cooking braised python. He told the Miami Herald that Saturday's event will show how the animals can be a "viable food source".

Funds in the "Best Invasivore Chef" contest are being raised for the Fertile Earth Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to promoting environmental awareness.